77. Saloon District

Location: Area bounded by Culver, Water, Butler and Mary Streets, Saugatuck
Date: 1840s-1900

Some of the 1895 Taverns highlighted

One Saugatuck historian noted that in the early days Saugatuck was a “sailor’s town.” It was, as well, a town full of loggers and mill workers — many of them single men who worked long hours in dangerous trades. They lived in boarding houses, lumbering camps, or on-board their boats. As a result, by 1874 the docks area known as “the Flats” had seven rough, hard-drinking saloons. A report of the time noted that one could even find women playing pool in such places — and there was more than one bordello operating in the district. As a result, the respectable class of citizens preferred to frequent “the Hill” area of town. The character of the village changed dramatically as lumbering activity faded away in the 1880s and the town cultivated a respectable face for its new tourist economy.